According to a FINRA Disciplinary announcement, Jo Ellen Fisher (CRD #3047985, Gallipolis, Ohio) submitted an Offer of Settlement in which she was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity.

Without admitting or denying the allegation, Fisher consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that she intentionally converted more than $924,750 from a 95-year-old customer’s trust account without the customer’s knowledge or authorization. Fisher transferred the securities and cash from the trust account to her own daughter’s brokerage account . The findings stated that after liquidating most of the securities, Fisher and her family used the funds for their personal benefit.

The findings also stated that Fisher provided a falsified “Godparent’s Certificate” to her member firm and FINRA, and provided falsified client notes to her firm to create the deceptive appearance that the elderly customer intended to gift the securities and cash to Fisher’s daughter because the daughter was purportedly the elderly customer’s goddaughter, which she was not. The findings also included that during sworn testimony provided to FINRA, Fisher falsely claimed that the elderly customer directed each of the unauthorized transfers from his trust account to Fisher’s daughter’s brokerage account and that he did so because the daughter was his goddaughter. During testimony, Fisher falsely claimed that the “Godparent’s Certificate” confirmed that her daughter was the elderly customer’s goddaughter. Fisher also falsely testified that the client notes stating that the elderly customer intended to give money to Fisher’s daughter were authentic. When informed during testimony that there was evidence that the client notes were fictitious, Fisher refused to answer any further questions.

For the full FINRA case, see FINRA Case #2014041208401.

According to this FINRA Broker Report, Fisher was employed by Raymond James from January 2010 through May 2014.

The foregoing information, which is all publicly available on FINRA’s website, is being provided by The White Law Group.  The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Franklin, Tennessee.

For a free consultation with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.  For more information on The White Law Group, visit http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.